Whateve it Takes Redone
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Rewrite of my story 'Whatever It Takes'. After the discovery of a young boy's body Booth learns something he never knew about Brennan. How far will one man go to save the son of the woman he loves?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones or any of its characters.**

**Whatever it Takes Redone**

**A/N: I started this a while ago, but a lot of the beginning chapters were poorly written so I decided to start over. Also, this version takes place in the later seasons when Booth and Brennan are together and have their daughter.**

Booth and Brennan exited their carat one of the local parts and headed to meet the rest of the team. Brennan slammed her door as she got out.

"I don't understand why you're so upset," Booth said. They had been arguing a bit about Christine, but he still didn't understand why. He mentioned one innocent thing about schooling, which wouldn't happen for a few years now and Bones had totally freaked out on him.

"I am upset because I asked you to drop it and you wouldn't," Brennan said as she walked toward Angela, Hodgins and Cam.

"Because you got so upset about something so miner. I don't understand what the big deal is. All I did was mention preschool for when Christine is old enough to go," Booth said. That had been what had started this whole thing. He had said that Christine was growing so fast and that soon she'd be ready for preschool and Bones immediately got upset and said that she didn't want Christine going to Preschool.

"I do not want to talk about his anymore!" Brennan nearly yelled as they neared the group.

"Is everything okay?" Cam asked. They'd heard the last part of the fight and it didn't sound pretty.

"Fine. Where are the bones?" Brennan asked.

Cam pointed to a shallow grave and led the way.

"What happened?" Hodgins asked Booth.

"I don't know. She just freaked out over nothing. I mentioned one little comment about Christine and preschool when she's old enough and it was like I was talking about sending our child across the country," Booth said before following his girlfriend.

Hodgins looked at Angela. "She didn't tell him?"

"I guess not," Angela said before the two of them went over as well.

Meanwhile, Brennan was examining the remains of their victim. "The bones are small. It is likely that this was a child, but I am uncomfortable saying that for certain at this time.

Booth cringed. He always hated it when they had child victims. Well, any victim was bad, but he had two children himself. Whenever there was child victim, he thought about Parker and Christine. "How old?"

"I cannot possibly know that right now, Booth," Brennan said.

"He looks like he's probably in his early teens though," Cam said.

"That is speculation, not fact," Brennan said.

"Well, then let's get him back to the Jeffersonian so we can get facts," Booth said.

Brennan nodded her agreement.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Angela walked into Brennan's office where she found her sitting at her desk. "Hey, sweetie. Are you alright?"

"I am fine. I am just waiting for Camille to finish with the bones," Brennan said.

"I wasn't talking about that. Booth told us what happened," Angela said.

"I don't want to discuss it, Angela," Brennan said shortly.

"Honey, why haven't you told him?" Angela asked.

"Because he doesn't need to know. The knowledge would not do him any good," Brennan said.

"Bren, I think he does need to know. I mean, if it's affected things with Christine, he needs to know so he can understand," Angela said.

"No. I will not let it affect things again. It was one irrational moment and it is over. I won't let it happen again," Brennan said firmly. She knew very well that her reaction to Booth's comment was irrational. She hated that she'd lost all rational thought for a moment there, but she knew that was what had happened.

"Brennan, sweetie, I hate to tell you this, but it will. It's only gonna get worse as Christine gets older. You've gotta tell Booth so that he can help you through it, or at the very least so that he can understand why what happened today happened and why it will happen again," Angela said before walking out of Brennan's office.

Brennan closed her eyes sadly. She knew that Angela was right. Telling Booth was the rational decision. It was just so hard. This had been the worst thing to ever happen in her life, and that included losing her parents as a teenager. She didn't know how to tell Booth. But she had to. She just had to.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Brennan walked into the lab to see the bones of their victim cleaned and ready. Booth and Camille, as well as her newest intern were there as well. "Booth, what are you doing here?"

"Bones, I really think we should talk," Booth said.

Brennan took a deep breath. "Yes, I think that is necessary, but we can't do it now. I have to examine the bones."

"They're ready, Doctor Brennan. There's also a necklace we found in the victim's hand," the intern said.

Brennan nodded and went to the body. The first thing she did was examine the skull. There were several makes on the back of the skull. "Our victim appears to have been struck several times on the back of the head."

"Cause of death is likely blunt force trauma," Booth said.

"No, we cannot know that for sure yet," Brennan said before inspecting more of the bones. "There is an untreated break of the wrist as well as several contusion marks on the arms and legs."

Booth cringed. "Oh God. The kid was abused."

"You cannot make that assumption yet, Booth. It is too…" Brennan cut off as the evidence bag on the small table on the other side of the body caught her attention.

"Bones, what is it? What's wrong?" Booth asked concerned. She looked like all the blood in her body had drained.

Brennan didn't answer. She went over and took the evidence bag with a necklace in it. The second it was in her hand, she dropped it to the ground and gasped.

Booth was by her side within seconds. "Bones! Bones, what is it?"

Brennan looked from the necklace on the ground to the remains on the table. She screamed out in agony. "No! Oh, God, no!"

"Bones, talk to me please," Booth begged. He wanted to help the woman he loved, but he needed to understand what was going for him to be able to do that.

"No!" Brennan screamed before running out and leaving everyone in the room shocked and confused.


	2. Chapter 2

Booth immediately followed Brennan. He ran through the halls to her office and tried to walk inside, only to find that the door was locked. He immediately started pounding on it. "Bones, come on, let me in."

The only response he got was to hear her crying inside the office.

"Bones, please, let me in and tell me what's wrong. I can help," Booth said pleaded desperately. He was extremely worried right now. Bones had never reacted this way to remains before. She was always so professional. Some would even say she was unfeeling. She never got emotionally involved in a case before. But she was now. She was so emotionally involved that it was tearing her apart. Booth wanted to help her, but he needed to know what was going first.

Suddenly Angela's name popped into Booth's head. If anyone had a key to Bones' office, it was Angela. He could get the key from her and let himself in to help Bones. He was sure he could get her to tell him what was wrong if he could just get inside.

Booth immediately rushed down the hall to Angela's office and let himself in. He found Angela there with Hodgins. "Angela, do you have a key to Bones' office?"

"Yeah, of course. Booth, what's wrong?" Angela asked. She saw the worried look on his face heard the desperation in his voice. Something was very wrong.

"I don't know. Bones lost it when she was examining the body. She ran off and locked herself in her office," Booth said.

Angela raised both eyebrows in shock. "Brennan?"

"She never lets the case get to her," Hodgins said just as surprised.

"Yeah, I know. Look, can I just get the key?" Booth asked impatiently.

Angela nodded and went over to her desk. She opened the top drawer and took out a single key. She immediately went over and handed it to Booth.

Booth took it and ran out of the room. He went back over to Bones' office and let himself in. He found her huddled in the far corner with a picture clutched to her chest. She was still crying.

Booth immediately went over and sat next to her. "Bones, what's going on? Are you okay?"

Brennan immediately leaned into his arms and continued to cry hard. The pain she was feeling right now was unbearable. It felt like someone had torn her hear out, even though she knew that was physically impossible

Booth held her tightly. "It's okay, Bones. I'm here. Just tell me what's wrong, okay? Let me help you," Booth said.

"You can't," Brennan cried. Booth couldn't help her with this. Nobody could.

"I can try. Please, Bones, just tell me what's wrong," Booth begged. He hated seeing Bones like this. It was breaking his heart that the woman he loved was in so much pain.

Brennan took several deep breaths and pulled away. It took everything she had, but somehow she managed to calm down. She then handed him the framed picture she was holding.

Booth took the picture offered to him and looked at it. It was a picture of a little boy who looked to be about four or five. The boy had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He reminded Booth a lot of Bones. "Who is this?"

"His name is Aaron. He's my son," Brennan told him.

Booth stared at the woman he loved in shock. "You're son? You have a son?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It was just too hard. And I guess I was also afraid that you would think I was a failure as a mother," Brennan said. That was how she felt anyway. She went over in her head every day what she could've done to protect her child better.

"I could never think that, Bones," Booth said immediately. Bones was an amazing mother. All he had to do was look at her with Christine to know that.

"You cannot say that yet. You don't know what happened," Brennan said as she began to cry again.

"I don't need to know what happened to know you're not responsible. Though I would like to know," Booth said. He had his guesses, but he'd rather hear what happened from Bones than speculate.

Brennan took a deep breath. "It happened less than a year before we met. Eight years ago, though it feels like just yesterday sometimes. Aaron was five. I sent him off to Preschool like I did every morning. I thought that he was safe there. I thought that he would be okay."

"But he wasn't," Booth said quietly. Well, he was beginning to understand now why Bones lost it so much when he mentioned preschool for Christine. She was afraid of losing another child.

Brennan shook her head. "No, he wasn't. I got a call late that morning. Someone showed up and claimed to be Aaron's uncle. They just let him take him. They didn't even try to determine if he was lying."

"I'm going to assume it wasn't Russ," Booth said.

"No. This man didn't even match Russ' description," Brennan said. True, Russ wasn't in her life back then, but he would not have changed dramatically since the last time she'd seen him, so she knew it wasn't possible for it to be him. "But they checked anyway. He was nowhere near that school when Aaron disappeared. He wasn't even in DC at the time."

"And they never found the guy?" Booth asked.

Brennan shook her head. "They never found any leads leading to Aaron or the man that took him. There was never any chance of either. Until now."

"What do you mean? What happened earlier that made you freak out?" Booth asked.

'The necklace. I recognized it. It was mine. Aaron had separation anxiety. I gave him my necklace as a type of security blanket. It was something to make him feel close to me. He had it that day. A…and today… That was the necklace, Booth. Those bones… They're my son," Brennan said as her voice began breaking once more.

"You don't know that. It could just be a coincidence. I'm sure you're not the only one with that necklace. Look, you're the one that's always saying not to jump to conclusions. You can't jump to conclusions, Bones, not now," Booth said seriously.

"But what if it's him. Booth, I can't…"

"Bones, don't think about that right now. Right now we don't know who those remains belong to. Do not rush to the wrong conclusion. Try to have hope that it's not him. I know that's hard for you, especially now, but you have to try," Booth said.

Brennan took several deep breaths. "Okay. Okay, you're right. Right now it is just speculation. Speculation has no place in the lab. But Booth I can't work on those bones."

"I know. I'm going to talk to Cam and tell her that she has to handle it. Are you going to be okay for a few minutes?" Booth asked. He was really reluctant to leave her alone, as she was understandably upset, but he wanted to talk to Cam so she could get an ID as soon as possible.

"I will be fine. Go. I need to know one way or another," Brennan said.

Booth nodded and stood up. "It's going to be okay, Bones," he said before walking towards the day. He just prayed he was right.


	3. Chapter 3

Booth made his way back to the lab. He found Cam there talking to Angela and Hodgins.

"So what the hell happened?" Angela was asking.

"I have no idea. One minute she was fine and then she looked at the necklace the victim had been holding and she lost it," Cam said. She then noticed Booth's presence. "Booth."

Angela and Hodgins immediately turned to Booth. "Hey. Is she okay?" Angela asked.

"Uh, no, not really. You guys are going to have to handle thing one on your own. Bones can't work on those bones," Booth said.

"Why not?" Cam asked.

Booth looked at the remains and shuddered at the thought of them belonging to Bones' little boy. "Because she things they might be her son."

"What?" Cam asked in shock.

"Is she sure?" Hodgins asked.

Angela just gasped and covered her moth with her hand in horror.

"She's not sure of anything right now. She just recognized the necklace. She thinks it might be the one she gave her son before he was kidnapped," Booth said.

"Wait a second, Doctor Brennan has a son that was kidnapped?" Cam asked. She never knew any of this. She always assumed Christine was Brennan's only child.

"Apparently. And now she thinks he's been found. Or at least his body has. I want these remains ID'd now. If this is, God forbid, her son, she deserves the closure of having an answer. If it's not then I won't have her believing her son is dead for one more minute longer than necessary," Booth said firmly.

"Of course. We'll start right away. Tell Doctor Brennan to take the rest of the day. She shouldn't be here while we're investigating. Get her to go home," Cam told him.

"I'll do my best," Booth said before walking away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

It actually hadn't been too difficult for Booth to get Brennan to go home. He got the feeling she wanted to see Christine, to see for fact that at least one of her children were alive and well

Booth placed his keys on the table and watched Brennan run upstairs to get Christine. Not long after, Max came into the room from the kitchen.

"What's going on? What are you two doing home in the middle of the day?" Max asked in concern. He knew very well that his daughter was a workaholic and Booth was not much better. There was no good reason he could see for them both being home before noon.

"It's not my place to say, Max. Hell, I just found out about it myself. Let's just say that there was an incident that brought some painful memories to light for your daughter," Booth said. It was a very mild way of putting it, but it was all he could say. Not only was it not his place to tell the real story, but he also wondered what Max would do if he knew he had a grandson that might have been killed. He would probably take the law into his own hands and try to find and kill the murderer.

"Is this about Aaron?" Max asked. He knew all about his grandson. Not from his daughter of course, but he'd kept tabs on her life. He knew that was in her life and how important they were to her.

"You knew about that. Oh, why am I even surprised? Yes, it's about him. Our newest case is a child about the same age as he would be now,' Booth said.

"Oh, I see. I tried to find him, you know? My grandson? But I never could," Max said sadly.

"No one seems to be able to. Look, max, we're not going anywhere for a while, so you can head home. I think we need to be alone right now," Booth said.

Max looked like he wanted to protest, but he decided against it. "Take care of her."

Booth nodded.

"And let her know I'll be around if she wants to talk. I know she won't, but just in case," Max said before heading towards the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Hours later, Brennan was still in the nursery with Christine. She was rocking her in the chair next to the crib. She couldn't seem to let her go. Holding her was the only thing keeping her from going out of her mind.

Soon, Booth came into the room. "Hey. I made some pasta."

"I'm not hungry," Brennan said.

"I know, but you have to eat something," Booth said.

"I'll eat when I know," Brennan said as she continued to rock her daughter.

"I know you're scared, Bones," Booth said. He could see the fear in her eyes, but he would know anyway. He was a parent too. He knew that if Christine or Parker were missing and possibly dead, he'd be terrified.

"You told me to hope. I'm trying, but I don't know how. Even if the remains aren't Aaron's, my son is still gone. He's probably even still dead," Brennan said. It killed her to even say, but she was a realist. She knew that logically speaking, her child was probably not alive. She'd tried for years not to think about such an outcome, but after today, she couldn't help it anymore.

Booth didn't know what to say to that. There wasn't much he could say. Bones was right. Whether those bones were her son's or not, he was still gone without any conceivable way to find him.

Just then Booth's phone rang. He immediately picked it up. "Booth."

"_Booth, it's me," _Cam said from the other end of the line.

"Cam, do you have an answer for us?" Booth asked.

Brennan immediately stood up and put Christine in her crib. She then went over to Booth.

"_Yeah. Angela was able to ID the boy with help from her technology. Once we had his face, we sent it through to your office and they ID'd him through the Missing and Exploited Children website," _Cam said.

Booth closed his eyes sadly. With that information, he was almost positive that it was Bones' son.

"_The remains were of a boy named Daniel Stevens."_

"What?" Booth asked taken aback.

"_It's not him, Booth. It is not Doctor Brennan's son," _Cam said.

"Oh, thank God. It's not him, Bones," Booth said with a smile.

Brennan let out a cry of relief and collapsed into Booth's arms. It was like a weight had been pulled off her chest. Her son was still missing, but now she at least knew that the bones she'd seen and examined were not his.

Booth held her tightly with one arm. "Alright, thanks, Cam. We'll…"

"_Booth, wait, we found something else," _Cam said.

"What is it?" Booth asked.

Brennan pulled away and looked at Booth confused. It appeared there was more.

"_We reexamined the necklace found with the remains," _Cam said.

"It must have been a look alike," Booth said.

"_No, we don't think so. We found a small hair stuck in between it and we examined it. That hair was a match to Aaron Brennan," she told him._

"Wait, so you're saying…"

"_Our victim and Doctor Brennan's son were in contact," _Cam said.

Booth immediately hung up the phone. He hadn't meant to hang up on Cam, but he needed to talk to Bones immediately.

"Booth, what is it?" Brennan asked.

"That boy wasn't your son, Bones. But he may just be the key to finding him."


	4. Chapter 4

Booth and Brennan made it back to the lab about an hour later. They found Cam there still examining the remains.

Cam looked over when she felt another presence. "What are you guys doing here? I didn't mean for you to come in, Doctor Brennan."

"Where else did you expect me to be? Those remains might not be my son's, but they're connected to him," Brennan said. Booth had told her all about how the necklace they'd found truly did belong to Aaron.

"Exactly why you shouldn't be here. You can't work this case," Cam said.

"I do not intend to. I just want to be privy to your findings," Brennan said.

"You can give her this much, Cam. Please," Booth begged.

Cam sighed. "The only connection we have so far to your son, Doctor Brennan, is the hair from the necklace. We think he must have gotten it caught when he pulled it over his head. We don't know how long ago that was though. It could've been yesterday or it could've been years ago."

"It is not likely that it was yesterday. These remains were in that park much longer than that," Brennan said.

"Well, of course. I was just making a point," Cam said.

"Alright, tell me about this victim. Bones may not be on the case, but I am," Booth said.

"I'm guessing that won't last long, Booth. It won't be long before your boss catches wind of the connection to your family and throws you off the case," Cam said.

"Just give me the details," Booth said impatiently.

"Well, like I said on the phone, with help from Angela, we were able to trace the remains back to another missing child. His name was Michael Addison," Cam said.

Brennan frowned. That name sounded so familiar to her. "I know that name."

"What? You knew the victim?" Booth asked shocked.

"I don't know. I just know I've heard that name before. I can't place from where though," Brennan said

Booth turned his attention back to Cam. "What else do we know?"

"Well, we already checked everything out with the agent responsible for his missing persons case. He disappeared when he was four, a few months after Aaron was taken," Cam continued.

"Anything yet, Bones?" Booth asked.

Brennan shook her head. "I still can't put my finger on it, but I know I've heard that name somewhere. Why can't I remember?"

"Bones, he was a four-year-old boy. He was probably a friend of Aaron's or something. You probably don't remember because it was so long ago. I certainly don't remember all of Parker's friends from when he was five," Booth said.

"Yeah, but this is obviously important. This boy and my son were connected and not just as small children. They knew each other even after being kidnapped," Brennan said.

"Which probably means they were taken by the same person," Booth said. It was too much of a coincidence for it to be any other way. There was no way these two boys were taken by two different people.

"But why? What do they have in common other than that they might have been friends?" Brennan asked.

"That's what I'll have to find out. I'm gonna head to the office to look at the file and then I'm going to make the notification to Michael's parents," Booth said.

"I'm coming with you," Brennan said.

"No, Bones, you can't. Cam is right when she says you can't be on this case," Booth said.

"Booth, this boy was connected to my son. I have to at least go with you while you investigate," Brennan said.

"The fact that Aaron is connected is why you can't be involved, okay? This reopens your son's case. His case and Michael's are connected. You can't be involved in any aspect of it," Booth said.

"Booth, I…"

"Bones, listen to me," Booth said as he put his hands on her shoulders. "I know this is hard. I know you want to be a part of this investigation, but you can't. Please, just trust me to do this. I promise you I will do anything in my power to find your son and bring him home to us and his sister. Please trust that."

"I trust you, Booth. I trust you with everything I have. I just… I'm scared. They searched for him for months when he went missing and they never found anything. Now a boy is dead due to the man that took them both. What if Aaron is next?" Brennan said.

"Don't think like that. Look, you are Aaron's mother. That means that he has it in him to survive this. And I know you don't believe in God, but I do and I don't believe he's so cruel that he would take your son away from you when you're so close to getting him back," Booth said.

"I wanna believe that so much. I want to believe you'll bring him home," Brennan said as her voice began to break.

Booth immediately put his hands around her. "He will, Bones. He will."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, Booth was sitting in a well-furnished living room with Michael Addison's mother, Maggie Daniels. Apparently Addison had been a married name and the woman was no divorced. He'd just informed the woman of her son's death. Needless to say, she was inconsolable.

"Did he suffer?" the woman asked through her tears.

"No. He went quickly," Booth lied. Truthfully, they didn't know Michael died or how quick he went yet. Sometimes though, it was kinder to lie. To a mother about her son's murder was one of those times. "I'm very sorry for your loss, Ms. Daniels.

"Thank you. Do you know who did this?" Ms. Daniels asked

"Not yet. I was hoping you could help with that. Is there anything you remember now that you might not have eight years ago?" Booth asked.

"Agent Booth, my son was my world. I would never forget anything that might have to do with his disappearance," she said with a glare.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to make this any worse. It's just that we don't think your son was the only child taken. In fact, it's a theory that a young boy who was friends with your son was taken about four months prior," Booth said.

"Ms. Daniels' eyes widened. "The Brennan boy."

"You knew Aaron Brennan?" booth asked.

"No, I didn't exactly know him, but I remember him going missing. He and Michael went to the same school and were even in the same class. The ages there ranged from three to five. It's hard to forget when a five-year-old boy disappears from the same place you send your own child every day. It left me terrified to send Michael to school. Little did I know he'd be snatched from my backyard," she said.

"And you never thought the two were connected?" Booth asked.

"No, but it was months apart and at the time, I thought I knew who did it. I thought it was my ex-husband who took him. I thought that until you told me Michael as dead. I can't believe that he would ever take Michael's life," Ms. Daniels said as she began to cry again.

"You and your ex were having problems with custody?" Booth asked.

"Let's just say that he was never husband or father of the year. He had a bad temper and it scared me enough to keep Michael away from him as much as possible, but I can't believe that he would kill him. No, he wouldn't," she said.

"Okay, thank you. Again, I am sorry for your loss," Booth said before standing up to leave.

Ms. Addison looked up at him. "I hope you do find the Brennan boy. I hope you find him and he's okay. No parent deserves to go through what I am."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Booth said before walked through the living room and out the front door. He was walking to his car when his phone began to ring. He immediately took it out and answered it. "Booth."

"_Booth, you are never going to believe this."_

Booth immediately recognized the voice as Cam's. "Cam, what's up?"

"_I decided to test Aaron's DNA against Michael Addison's just to be thorough. I didn't expect to find anything out of the ordinary,"_ Cam said.

"I'm guessing you did find something or you wouldn't be calling me," Booth said.

"_Yeah. Aaron and Michael have DNA in common. I think that they were brothers," _Cam said.

Booth was frozen in shock for a minute. He hadn't expected that. That changed the game. That meant that Maggie Addison had probably been right when she suspected her ex-husband. "Does Bones know?"

"_No. She's in her office and asked not to be disturbed. I thought you would want to tell her yourself anyway," _Cam said.

"You were right. I'll there soon. Thanks, Cam," Booth said before hanging up and getting in his car.


	5. Chapter 5

Brennan was in her office doing left over paperwork. It was about the only thing keeping her from going insane right now. Booth was out there now investigating the kidnapping and murder of Michael Addison, and in turn, her own son's kidnapping. Unfortunately, that meant she couldn't be a part of the investigation. She couldn't do anything to help find her son. It made her feel so helpless.

Soon there was a knock on the door.

Brennan looked up with a hopeful look on her face. "Booth?"

The door opened and Angela stepped inside. "Sorry, it's just me."

Brannan sighed. "Hey, Ange, I was hoping you'd be Booth."

"Yeah, I know," Angela said as she made her way over to her best friend's desk. "So how are you holding up?"

Brennan took a deep breath. "I…I don't know. I feel like I'm back where I was eight years ago. I've never let go of what happened. I think about Aaron every day and I wonder every day what happened to him.. But somehow over the years, I've forced myself to try to live without him. It has been more painful than anything else ever has been or ever could be, but somehow I managed. Now it seemed that I'm back to when it first happened. Every moment that goes by threatens to swallow me whole."

"That's because you finally have some hope. For the first time in years, there's actually a chance of you getting your son back. You're scared. You're scared that that hope will be taken away from you. But you can't think like that. I know this is hard for you, but you have to have faith. You can get your son back," Angela said.

Just then the door opened again and Booth stepped inside.

"Booth, how did it go?" Brennan asked frantically.

"Angela, give us the room," Booth said.

Angela nodded and headed out.

"What's going on?" Brennan asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

Booth immediately went over and sat in the chair in front of Brennan's desk. "I think I know who kidnapped Aaron and Michael?"

"Well, who? Who took my son?" Brennan asked.

"I got a call from Cam after I spoke to Michael Addison's mother. We know the connection between the two boys. Bones, they shared the same father," Booth told her.

Brennan blinked and gaped in shock. "W…what?"

"Cam compared their DNA. She found a lot of similarities in their DNA. Maggie Daniels always thought her son was taken by her ex-husband. This makes sense," Booth said.

"His brother? He had a brother?" Brennan asked dumbfounded. She never knew that her child had another sibling. She supposed it wasn't so farfetched. She hadn't known Aaron's father long. For all she had known, the man had had several children.

"It seems that way. I need you to tell me what you know about Aaron's father," Booth said.

"I don't know much. I met him at a conference. He told me his name was Charles Abrams. We only went out a few times in the span of about a month. It was mostly just sexual. He stopped calling one day and that was the end," Brennan said.

"So he didn't know you were pregnant?" Booth asked.

Brennan shook her head. "I had no way of getting in touch with him. He took my number, I didn't take his. He probably thought I would try to keep in touch when he wanted it to end. I am even more sure of that now that I know he was married."

"He must have found out about Aaron when he and Michael joined the same preschool class," Booth said.

"I never knew. I…I just figured I'd never see him again. I never thought he would find out about Aaron or that he'd take him away from me. Why? Why would he do that? Why didn't he just come to me and ask to see Aaron?" Brennan asked. It seemed as though that situation wouldn't have been much better since the man obviously had no problem hurting children, but I at least she could've protected her child better.

"Well, Maggie Daniels described her ex-husband as violent. She was keeping her son away from him and she probably would've tried to get you to do the same. He probably didn't think he'd be able to see Aaron. Besides, I think he wanted both boys for himself. This was the only way to accomplish that goal," Booth said.

Brennan shook her head sadly. "This is my fault."

"Bones, that is not true. He kidnapped your son. That is not your fault," Booth said firmly. He was not about to let the woman he loved take responsibility for that bastard taking her son. It was not her fault.

"No, but I never suspected that he would take Aaron. I never considered him a real suspect. If I had…"

"Bones, I read the file. You gave the agent in charge Addison's name, or at least the name you knew him by. You did everything you could," Booth said.

"If I had just seen him. If I had just seen him one time at Aaron's school, maybe..."

"Bones, stop. Stop blaming yourself for something you had no control over. You're not helping yourself or Aaron by doing that. Right now we just need to focus on finding him," Booth said.

"What if it's too late?" Brennan asked fearfully.

"Don't think like that. We talked about this, remember? You have to have hope," Booth said.

"I know, but it's hard to do that when the bones of his brother are in the lab. His brother. Booth, I know how important siblings are. If I had known that Michael existed, I would've done what I could to make sure they knew each other," Brennan said.

"I know, Bones," Booth said. Seconds later, his phone began to ring. He immediately took it out of his pocket and answered it. "Booth. Where is it? Okay, thanks."

"Booth, what is it?" Brennan asked after Booth hung up the phone.

"I had some colleagues look into any missing preteen to teen kids in the last year or so. I figured that was probably around the right timeline. Anyway, apparently last year, a junior high school principal had concerns about a missing eleven-year-old boy. I'm going to head down to the school to see what I can find out," Booth said before getting up.

Brennan stood up. "I'm coming with you."

"Bones, no, we talked about this," Booth reminded her.

"Booth, he could be there. I have to go," Brennan said pleadingly.

Booth sighed. He couldn't say no. he saw the desperation in her eyes and he understood it. He would want the same thing if it were Parker or Christine. "Okay, but you have to let me handle this. This isn't like any other case. You can't get involved."

Brennan nodded vigorously. She would agree to anything at this point.

Booth immediately led the way out of the office.


	6. Chapter 6

Booth and Brennan walked into the main office of one of the local junior high schools in town. They approached the front desk where a blonde woman was stationed.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, we need to see the principal," Booth said as he flashed his badge.

"Of course. I'll get him for you," she said as she picked up her phone.

Booth turned back to Brennan. "You okay, Bones?"

"I'm fine," Brennan said, not positive if that was true or not.

"The principal has asked that I show you to his office. Right this way," the receptionist said before standing up and leading them down the hall. She stopped at the last door on the right and knocked before opening the door.

"That will be all, Lauren, thank you," A balding man from behind the desk said. He waited for the woman to leave and then turned to Booth and Brennan. "Hi, I'm Principal Johnson. How can I help you folks?"

Booth flashed his badge again. "I'm Special Agent Booth and this is my partner, Doctor Brennan. We're here about a former student of yours who went missing a while back. I believe his name was Ryan Peterson."

"Hang on, let me bring the file up," the principal said before messing with his computer for a few moments. "Ah, here we go. Ryan Peterson. Yes, we called the police about him. He hadn't been in school for almost three weeks and we couldn't get ahold of his parents."

"It took you three weeks to report him missing?" Brennan asked.

"It wasn't the first time Ryan didn't show up for school for an extended period. He'd missed up to two weeks before that," Mr. Johnson said.

"And you never thought to report that to somebody?" Booth asked more than a little annoyed. If this idiot had done a better job at looking after his students, Michael, if it was him, might still be alive.

"Ryan was a sickly kid. There are notes in his file about allergies and high susceptibility to illness. So if he was out for a while, we just assumed that was the reason

Booth frowned. There was nothing in Michael's file about any of that. True, he could've developed medical conditions later in life, but Booth got the feeling that it was a fabrication to explain the child's absences from school.

"Did he ever have a doctor's note or prescriptions? Did you ever meet his parents?" Brennan asked.

"Bones," Booth warned. He'd asked her to let him handle things. He knew it was probably very difficult, but he couldn't have her getting involved here. This had to be done by the book.

"Well, no, but his father called after the first time the boy was out for an extended period and explained the situation," Mr. Johnson said.

"And you just took his word for it," Booth said before shaking his head in disbelief.

"Ryan was always pale and looked sick. It wasn't difficult to believe," he said.

"Did you ever meet Ryan's father?" Booth asked.

The principal shook his head. "There was no need to. Ryan was always a well-behaved child, despite the friends he chose."

"But his father must have come in to enroll him in school," Brennan said. She knew that from when she first enrolled Aaron in preschool and also from her own experience in changing schools as a child. To enroll a child in school, a parent had to come down and present a birth certificate.

"Not necessarily. Not if he went to one of the elementary schools in the district. His records would just be transferred," Booth said before turning back to Principal Johnson. "So when you knew Ryan was missing you called the police."

"Yes. They never told me what their investigation turned up though. I can only guess that he ran away or something," Mr. Johnson said.

Booth knew that he was going to have to talk to the local police about that. The only information he'd been given so far was that Ryan was the same age as Michael and that he was missing. He didn't know about the investigation or what it turned up. "Did Ryan have a brother. He would've been about a year older than him."

The principal shook his head. "No. At least not one that went to this school."

Brennan flinched. If Ryan really was Michael, this did not bode well for her son. He should've been at the school with him if he was around. That meant that something must have happened to him.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Booth said softly. He could tell that what she was thinking. Honestly, he was thinking it to some extent too, but he was doing his best to keep those thoughts away. Right now all they knew for sure was that Ryan might be Michael and that Aaron had not gone to school with him.

Booth turned to Principal Johnson. "You mentioned Ryan's friends. Who were they?"

"Yes, Ryan hung around three older boys, whom in many opinions, he shouldn't have. They're a group of trouble makers. We call them the three musketeers. They're always either in detention or even suspended," the principal said.

"Who are they?" Booth asked.

"Thomas Cooper, Dale Mathews, and Connor Logan. You rarely ever find one without the other two. Thomas is what you would call the ring leader though. Any trouble caused, he's usually the one to start it. I never understood why Ryan hung around with them. They were night compared to his day," Mr. Johnson explained.

"I want to talk to one of them. Let me speak to Thomas," Booth said. One of them had to know something about Ryan that could help him figure out if the boy was Michael. And if this Thomas kid was the ring leader, it would likely be him that knew.

The principal seemed to think about it for a moment before pressing a button on his phone. "Lauren, have Thomas Cooper brought to my office."

_"Right away, sir," _the woman said from the other end of the line.

Booth pulled Brennan aside. "Bones, I want you to let me speak to this boy alone."

"What? Why?" Brennan asked.

"Because if he knows something, he might be... reluctant to tell us and you're not going to handle that well," Booth said. Given how the principal had described this boy, Booth had a feeling he was going to hostile at best. Bones would not respond well to that.

"You think I'm going to yell at a child?" Brennan asked offended.

"I would. If that was Parker or Christine, there's no way I'd be able to be objective. I would never be able to have some kid prevent me from finding my child, even if he didn't know better. It's just best that I handle this alone. Please, Bones, just trust me here," Booth pleaded with her.

Brennan sighed. She wanted to stay, but she also knew Booth was right. She might make it worse by staying. "Okay. I will wait in the car."

"Thank you" Booth said before watching her leave. He then waiting patiently for the young boy he was going to interview to come in. He didn't have long to wait.

It was about five minutes before a young boy with short, dark brown hair was led into the room.

"Hello, Thomas. This is Agent Booth. He'd like to talk to you for a few moments," Principal Johnson told the boy.

Thomas glared at Booth. "Last time I checked, skipping class wasn't a crime."

"Well, actually, skipping school is truancy and it is against the law, but that's beside the point. I came to talk to you about an old friend of yours. Ryan Peterson," Booth said.

"Ryan's not here anymore. He took off a year ago," Thomas said.

"What do you mean by 'took off'. Do you know what happened to Ryan, Thomas?" Booth asked.

"It's just a figure of speak, stupid. It just means he's not here anymore," Thomas said.

"Thomas, show some respect," the principal said.

"Principal Johnson, I'd like to speak with Thomas alone," Booth said. He got the feeling he wasn't going to get anywhere with this boy while his principal was in the room. True he might not get anything anyway, but he had to try.

"I don't know. Doesn't he need to have some kind of adult in the room if the police are speaking to him?" Principal Johnson asked.

"I would have to have his parents here if he was a suspect in a crime, but he's not. I don't need anyone in the room to speak with him," Booth said.

"Well, alright. I'll wait outside. Thomas, shout if you need anything," the principal said before standing up and leaving the room.

"So tell me about Ryan, Thomas," Booth said.

Thomas shrugged. "He was just some little shrimp that hung around with us."

"You're saying he wasn't your friend?" Booth asked.

Thomas scoffed. "Like I would be friends with some puny little runt like him."

Booth frowned at the boy in front of him. The kid was the epitome of a school bully. He showed no concern whatsoever for a boy that he not only went to school with, but also hung around with. "Yet you let him hang around with you and your friends."

Thomas shrugged. "He was useful to have around."

Booth sighed. "Did he ever talk to you about his family?"

"What did I care about his family?" Thomas asked.

"Did he ever mention the names Michael Addison or Aaron Brennan to you?" Booth asked.

"Nope," he said right away.

"Did you ever go to his house?" Booth questioned.

"No."

"Did he ever go to yours?" Booth asked getting annoyed. This kid was stonewalling him and he knew it. Thomas knew something. Ryan was closest to this boy and his friends than anyone else in his school, even if that wasn't reciprocated. He must have told him something.

"Look, we weren't best friends. He was just someone we tolerated because he would do whatever we wanted. We didn't care about anything other than that. Now can I go?" Thomas asked with an annoyed tone.

Booth nodded. The kid wasn't going to tell him anything else right now and if he brought him in, he would have to contact his parents. He wasn't ready to do that yet. He could always re-interview him should he learn something else. "If you remember anything, even the slightest thing, call me," he said before taking a business card out of his pocket and handing it to the boy.

Thomas took the card and walked out of the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Booth and Brennan were in the car driving back to the lab. Booth had explained what happened with Thomas and Brennan had been very quiet since. "Bones, please say something. Are you okay?"

"He would've been there. If he was alive, he would've been at that school with Michael," Brennan said with a shudder. She hated the very thought, but the more this investigation progressed, the more she believed her son was dead.

"We don't know that, Bones. We don't know anything right now. We can't jump to conclusions. Isn't that what you're always telling me? We can't know anything for sure until we get the evidence to support it," Booth said.

"Why wasn't he there though? Why was he never at that school?" Brennan asked.

"I don't know. It could be any number of reasons. For all we know, Ryan isn't Michael," Booth said. He didn't really believe that though. Everything they'd learned so far told him that Ryan and Michael were the same person.

"Are you going to speak to the other boys he was friends with?" Brennan asked after a minute.

"Yeah, at some point. I would've done it today, but the principal said they weren't in school. I'll have to go through their parents now, so it'll be a little more difficult," Booth said. Parents tended to be very difficult when it came to their kids being questioned by authorities. That was why he'd decided not to bring Thomas back to Headquarters to question him further.

"Do you think they'll tell you anything?" Brennan asked.

"I don't know. Look, we're gonna find him, okay? I promise you we will find him," Booth said. And he meant that. One way or another, he would bring Aaron back, even if all he was bringing back was a body. He knew that would break Bones' heart, but it had to be better than spending her life wondering what happened to him.

"You can't promise that," Brennan said.

"Yes, I can and I am. I will find him. Trust me on that," Booth said looking right at her before turning back to the road.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

After dropping Brennan off at the lab, Booth went back to his office to see what more he could dig up himself. When he got there, he found Sweets standing by his desk. "Sweets, what are you doing in my office?"

"I thought we should talk. I head what was going on and I thought I could help," Sweets said.

"Really? Do you know where Bones' son is?" Booth asked sarcastically.

"Well, no, but…"

"Then you can't help me. Now get out so I can get to work," Booth said. He knew he might sound a bit harsh, but he had no patience for Sweets right now. He had his hands full trying to find Aaron and solving Michael's murder.

Sweets sighed. "Booth, your boss came to see my today. He wanted my opinion on whether or not you could work this case objectively.

Booth narrowed his eyes at the young psychologist. "You better have told him I could."

"I told him that you would do your best to stay professional, but that I wasn't sure if you would be successful. I also said that taking you off this case would be a mistake," Sweets said. He said the last part quickly when he saw the murderous look in Booth's eyes.

Booth calmed down when he heard the last part of Sweets' statement. It looked like the man didn't completely screw him over. "Good. Now, I need to get to work so please go."

"Booth, come on, talk to me for a minute. This is obviously hitting you hard. Just tell me how you're feeling," Sweets urged.

Booth slammed his hand on the desk angrily. "I don't have time for this, Sweets! There is a thirteen-year-old boy out there in the hands of a monster! Every second he's with him, there is less of a chance of him coming home alive! If he's even alive now! He may not be! Do you have any idea what that will do to Bones?! It will kill her!"

Sweets stared back at Booth but said nothing. This was exactly what he wanted. He wanted Booth to get all of this off his chest so he could deal with the situation more affectively.

Booth took several deep breaths and sat down in his chair. "Bones is starting to think that Aaron might be dead. I've been trying to get her to be optimistic, but what if she's right? The more I learn, the more it looks like he's dead."

"What have you learned?" Sweets asked.

Booth sighed. "A boy named Ryan Peterson disappeared a year ago. Cam hasn't gotten a precise time of death for Michael Addison yet, but when I asked her about it, she said a year was plausible. Anyway, we went to the school to talk the principal. Ryan didn't have a brother. It was just him sent there."

"That doesn't mean he's dead. This doesn't even prove that Michael and Aaron are the same boy," Sweets said.

"Yeah, I know, but there's a good chance he could be. If he is and Aaron wasn't at that school with him, where was he if not dead?" Booth asked.

"I don't know, but I think you should take your own advice. Don't jump to conclusions," Sweets said.

Booth sighed once more and did his best to pull himself together. "Okay, I have to get back to work. I can't lose it. I don't even have the right to lose it. He's not my son."

"No, but his mother is the woman you love and his sister is your daughter. And if he is found alive, he will likely become your son. So you do have every right to lose it," Sweets said seriously.

"Okay, fine, I don't have time to lose it. I promised Bones I would find Aaron and one way or another I am going to keep that promise," Booth said firmly.

"So what's your next move?" Sweets asked.

"I'm waiting to get the Missing Persons file from the local police. I'm hoping that will tell me something. If I don't get anything from that, there are two boys that Ryan hung around with that I'm going to talk to. I already spoke to one, but he was very unhelpful," Booth explained.

As if on Cue, the sound of the fax machine started.

"Finally," Booth said before going over to the fax machine. He took what was sent to him, went back to his desk, and then started flipping through it. "Damn it!"

"What?" Sweets asked.

Ryan and Michael are the same person. I'm positive now. The police were able to uncover that his birth certificate was forged. They were never able to find out who did it though. The boy's father was listed as Adam Peterson, but it was found to be an alias. They never found out who he really was. Also, the address given to the school was a fake!" Booth yelled in frustration before throwing the papers up in the air and rubbing his eyes.

"Okay, it looks like you're right. I guess you're left with those two boys," Sweets said.

"The other boy wouldn't tell me anything. I have no reason to think his friends will," Booth said.

"Why don't you let me talk to them? The parents and kids alike will feel less cornered by a psychologist than an agent," Sweets said.

Booth considered it for a moment. It certainly couldn't hurt. He had gotten nowhere with Thomas. Maybe Sweets would have better luck with Dale and Connor. "Yeah, okay, why not. I'll call their parents and have them all come in. You can handle the interview."

Sweets nodded and headed out of the room.


	8. Chapter 8

Sweets was in an interrogation room with Dale Mathews, Connor Logan and their parents. "Thanks for coming in."

"Why exactly are we here? What does an FBI psychologist want with my son?" Connor's father asked.

"Rest assured, your son's not involved in any troubled, Mr. Logan. We're investigating the disappearance of a friend of his and Dale's. Ryan Peterson?"

"Ryan? I've never heard of any Ryan. Dale, who is Ryan?" Dale's mother asked.

"He's nobody, Mom. He's just some kid that hung around with us," Dale said.

"He was your friend, wasn't he, Dale?" Sweets asked.

"Hell no. We only put up with that wuss for Thomas' sake," Dale said.

"Thomas?" Sweets asked.

"Thomas Cooper. That little punk has been a bad influence on our son since the moment they met," Connor's mother said.

"Stop it, Mom. Thomas is my best friend," Connor said.

"You don't need friends like that. That boy is going to end up in prison one of these days and I'll be damned if you go with him," Mrs. Logan said.

"Hang on. Dale, what did you mean when you said you hung out with Ryan for Thomas?" Sweets asked trying to get back on the subject at hand.

Dale sighed. "Look, we never liked Ryan."

"He was just a stupid little loser. No one liked him," Connor continued.

"Connor, do not talk about your classmates like that," Mrs. Logan scolded.

"Thomas didn't feel the same way you did?" Sweets asked.

Connor shook his head. "He insisted that he hang out with us and he threatened to beat our asses if hurt him or talked bad about him."

"It was weird because Ryan wasn't the type for him to hang out with," Dale added.

"What made him decide to be friends with Ryan?" Sweets asked.

"Hell if I know. He just started bringing him around when Ryan started school with us. He told us he was cool. What a joke." Dale said.

"We asked him why he hung out with a loser like him. He nearly tore our heads off," Connor said.

"When Ryan disappeared though, he did a complete one-eighty. All of a sudden he agreed with us. He said Ryan was a loser that we shouldn't think about anymore. He said not to even mention his name anymore," Dale said.

"It was weird, but we were happy to be rid of the little twerp, so we went with it," Connor said.

"Did Thomas or Ryan ever mention anything about Ryan's family? Did either of you ever go to his house?" Sweets asked.

"Like we'd be caught dead at his place. We never even went to Thomas' house, so you can be sure we didn't go to Ryan's," Dale said.

"And Ryan didn't talk about his family. There were times when we'd see Ryan and Thomas talking in a corner or something. They always shut up when we went over to them. I asked Thomas about it once, but he just told me it was none of my business and that I should stay out of it or he'd beat my ass."

"And you call him a friend," Mrs. Logan said in disgust.

"Okay, thank you. I'll be right back," Sweets said before walking out of the room. Booth was waiting there with a shocked look on his face.

"Okay, that makes no sense. I spoke to Thomas Cooper. He spoke of Ryan the same way those boys did. He said he only hung out with him to manipulate him," Booth said. This made no sense to him. If Thomas cared so much about Ryan why did he speak of him like that?

"Tell me about Thomas. Tell me what your views of him are. Maybe I can figure out what's going on," Sweets said.

"He was like Dale and Connor. He talked about Ryan like he couldn't care less about him. The principal told me he was a trouble maker. I can definitely see that. He acted like I was taking up his valuable time by making him talk about Ryan's disappearance," Booth said. It had made him angry because missing and dead kids were nothing to joke about. Thomas might be a child, but at thirteen, he should realize that.

"It sounds to me like he was trying to act like the tough guy. He doesn't want anyone to see him fall apart. I guarantee that Ryan's disappearance hurt him more than he's saying. He didn't want to tell you that because he didn't want to appear weak. And his school bully facade is probably just that. Sometimes bullies are just bullies, like with Dale and Connor. Those boys bully others simply because they can. They get off on hurting people weaker than them. But there are also bullies that act the way they do because life has kicked the crap out of them and they need to strike back to gain some control in an otherwise powerless situation," Sweets explained.

"And you think that's the way it is with Thomas Cooper?" Booth asked.

"I can't say for sure without talking to him, but it would make sense. Thomas probably hung around with Ryan because he saw himself in him. He saw a boy who was alone and miserable, possibly a feeling Thomas has every day. But like I said, it's a guess. I can't get a real feel for Thomas' motivations when I haven't even met him," Sweets said.

"But wouldn't that make him want to hurt Ryan more? Ryan was weaker than him. He was someone he could control. Wouldn't that make him the perfect victim?" Booth asked.

"It depends on how much Thomas knew about Ryan and how similar their situations were. I really can't know for sure because I've never met Thomas," Sweets said.

"Would you willing to? Will you talk to him?" Booth asked. He really had a feeling Thomas knew more about Ryan/Michael than he had said. That feeling grew when he realized Thomas really was Ryan's friend. He was the key to finding out what happened and maybe even possibly finding Aaron.

"Of course Anything I can do to help," Sweets said. He wanted to help Booth get Doctor Brennan's son back because they were both friends, but he also wanted to help Thomas if he was in need of help. He hadn't met the kid yet, but the idea of any child possibly being neglected or abused bothered him.

"Alright, I'm going to call the school to get his phone number and address. Then I'll have his parents bring him in," Booth said.

"Is there any way to talk to him without his parents? If I'm right, I don't think he's going to open up around them," Sweets said.

"I can't not call his parents, Sweets. At the school was different. If I bring him in here, I have to contact his parents. You're just going to have to get him to talk while they're here," Booth said before walking away.


	9. Chapter 9

Booth pulled his car up to the front of an apartment building and he and Sweets got out. This was supposed to be where Thomas Cooper lived.

The plan was originally to call his parents and have all of them brought down, but when Booth made the phone call, he got nothing but a recording saying the number he dialed wasn't in service. He figured they must have not paid the bill or something.

Sweets looked around at the apartment building. The place looked all but condemned. It was the kind of place drug addicts and alcoholics lived in. It was definitely no place for a thirteen-year-old boy. "This place further proves my theory, Booth. It doesn't look like Thomas is living the high life."

"Sweets, a lot of people come from poor backgrounds. They don't all become bullies," Booth said.

"I'm just saying, living in a place like this can't be easy for a teenaged boy," Sweets said.

"Let's see what he has to say," Booth said before walking into the building and heading down the hall. He walked about halfway down and then knocked on the door in front of him.

The door was opened by a man dressed in sweat pants and a wife beater. He reeked of alcohol. "Yeah, what do you want? We ain't buying anything."

Booth took his badge out and flashed it. "FBI," he said in disgust. If this really was Thomas' father, he was starting to think Sweets was right. The kid did have good reason to lash out.

"Well, what's the FBI want with me. I didn't do anything," the man said.

"Mr. Cooper, we're here about your son, Thomas," Booth said.

"What the hell are you talking about? My name ain't Cooper and I don't got no kid. Like I need to complicate my life with some little brat," the man said.

Booth frowned. "This is apartment five, right? How long have you lived here?" He thought maybe the Coopers moved and forgot to inform the school. It would be pretty reckless of them, but it was possible.

"I've been in this dump for five years," he said.

"Do you mind if we look around?" Sweets asked. There was a possibility that this guy was lying. If Thomas was in there and he was in less than perfect condition, that was a reason to lie about him being his son.

"Yeah, I freaking mind! You ain't getting into my place without a warrant," the man said before slamming the door in their faces.

"Are you sure you copied down the right address?" Sweets asked as the two of them started out of the apartment building once more.

"Positive. I made the woman on the phone repeat it twice," Booth said.

"He could be lying. I guy like that wouldn't treat his son well. There's a good chance Thomas really does live in that apartment. It makes sense with why he wouldn't let us in," Sweets said as they reached the car.

"He's an addict, Sweets. He wouldn't have let us in either way. He wouldn't want us finding his stash. But you're right, he could be lying. And if he is lying, that means Thomas is in trouble and I have more of a reason to have to find him," Booth said. There was now the very real possibility that Thomas was in real trouble. He couldn't ignore that.

"So what's your next move?" Sweets asked as they both got into the car.

"I'm gonna make some call the landlord for this dump and find out exactly who rented that apartment. I'm also going to make some calls to find out everything I can about Thomas Cooper," Booth said as he started the car and drove off.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Several hours later, Booth arrived home. He hadn't wanted to leave the office, but his boss had made him. Said that if he didn't go home and get some rest, he would take him off the case. Booth couldn't let that happen, so he conceded and went home. There was really nothing he could do until his contacts or the landlord of that apartment building got back to him. Neither of those things had happened yet.

"Bones!" Booth called as he walked in the door. He knew she was home because she called a couple of hours earlier and said Angela and Hogins were going to bring her home.

Footsteps were heard, but instead of Brennan, Max revealed himself to Booth. "Hey. She's up with the baby."

"Did she tell you?" Booth asked.

Max nodded. "Any luck?"

"I'm waiting to hear back from some contacts," Booth said.

"I've got a couple of feelers out there looking too," Max said.

Normally this would be where Booth told Max to stay out of it, but at this point, he didn't care by what means Aaron was found. He just wanted him brought back to Bones. "Max, normally, I'd be upset about you using any kind of illegal means in an investigation, but in this case, one of us has to find him. One of us has to bring him home."

"Tempe said something about two boys that might be able to help the investigation," Max said.

Booth shook his head sadly. "We already talked to them. They didn't know anything Aaron and knew very little about the other kid. Right now, we're looking for a boy I'd already talked to. I think he might not have been truthful earlier. Unfortunately, I can't find him. So now I've got two missing children who could be in serious trouble."

"What's his name?" Max asked as he took out his phone.

Before Booth could answer, his phone began to ring. She took it out and answered it immediately. "Booth. What? Okay, that's impossible. I just talked to this kid this morning. Alright, I'm on my way back in. I want everything you have in front of me when I get there."

"What's wrong?" Max asked after Booth hung up. He could tell something was up even without hearing half that conversation. Booth had a shocked and stressed look on his face.

"That was one of my contacts. The boy I'm looking for apparently doesn't exist," Booth said.

"What do you mean he doesn't exist?" Max asked.

"I mean his birth certificate was apparently forged. This kid is not who he's said to be," Booth said. This was seriously becoming ridiculous. This was the second kid today that was not who he appeared to be. The first was obviously Ryan, though that wasn't so surprising. He'd already had a feeling that Ryan was Michael even before he got to that school. Thomas was a completely different story though. That was just strange. What were the odds of two kids from the same school having duel identities?

Booth suddenly stopped cold as his last thought registered. What were the odds of that? Probably around minus zero. Two boys who were known under different names at one time going to the same school and being friends? That was way too much to be a coincidence.

Booth thought back to everything he'd learned so far, from Thomas' tough guy act to learning how protective he'd been of Michael. There was also Thomas' age and his physical appearance. It all clicked. Thomas wasn't the key to finding Aaron. Thomas _was_ Aaron.


	10. Chapter 10

A few hours later, Booth was in his office surrounded by several agents he planned to utilize to find Aaron, as well as Caroline and Sweets. "Alright, everyone, listen up. We have a missing child. Finding him is top priority.

"It's eleven o clock at night, Booth. Surely this can wait until morning," one of the agents said.

Booth glared daggers at him. "Jackson, what part of 'missing child' didn't you understand?"

"This kid has been missing for nearly eight years. What difference can one day make?" Agent Jackson asked.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask his brother who was murdered just a year ago? Or you could ask his mother who has spent the last eight years waiting for news of her son! Why don't you ask her what one more day means to her?!" Booth screamed. His tolerance was at its all-time low. He was so close to bringing Bones' son back. He could've brought him back to her just that afternoon. That affected him big time. He'd had Aaron. The boy had just been a few feet away from him and he let him go. He was kicking himself hard for that.

"How about if it were your child, Cheri?" Caroline asked.

"As I was saying, no one rests until we find this boy. Now Caroline has set up road blocks all over town and stopped all outgoing flights. No one is leaving the area without our okay. I have a bunch of fliers with Jacob Addison's picture on it," Booth said as he held up one of the photos. "Now keep in mind that he has aged eight years. Still, recognizing him shouldn't be that difficult. Sweets, you're up," Booth said. Sweets was there to try to give them a profile.

Sweets walked over to Booth and addressed the agents. "Okay, listen up. Jacob Addison should be considered extremely dangerous. From what we know of him, he feeds on complete control and will do anything to get it, including use violence. He has already killed one child and doubt there is much stopping him from killing another. He undoubtedly knows by now that we're looking for him and that puts Aaron, or Thomas, as he'll more likely answer to, in serious danger."

"Protecting Aaron Brennan, also known as Thomas Cooper, is your first priority. Proceed with extreme caution. Now you've all been given different checkpoints. Grab a flier and get moving," Booth ordered.

One by one, they all grabbed a flier and headed out of Booth's office.

"Good luck, Cheri. I hope this works out for you and that brilliant girlfriend of yours," Caroline said sincerely before leaving herself.

Only Sweets remained in the room with Booth. "Have you told Doctor Brennan that you've uncovered her son's identity?"

"No, and I'm not going to, not until I'm sure Aaron is safe," Booth said. He couldn't give Bones hope only to possibly take it from her. It was bad enough that she was still going through all of this because of him. If he'd figured out who Thomas was earlier, this all would be over.

Sweets seemed to be able to read Booth's mind at that moment. "It's not your fault, Booth. You couldn't have known who he was."

"I had him, Sweets. He was standing about as far from me as you are right now," Booth said guiltily.

"Yeah, but you couldn't be expected to know his true identity. There was no reason for you to believe Thomas was Aaron," Sweets said.

"Maybe not, but Bones might have known. She's his mother. She might have recognized him if she saw him. But she never got the chance because I sent her away," Booth said. That made him even more angry at himself. He'd sent Bones away from her own son. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to him.

"You know what Doctor Brennan would say to that, don't you?" Sweets asked.

Booth sighed and sat down. "Yeah, I know. She'd say it that it's not rational. She'd say she doesn't believe in the ability to recognize someone based on feelings. But I do. She would've recognized him, Sweets. She would've known he was hers. If I had just given her the chance to see him…"

"Booth, you didn't know. You told he yourself that Thomas and Ryan weren't ever introduced as siblings. They had different addresses and their fathers were listed as different people. It was the perfect setup, Booth," Sweets said.

"I have work to do. I have a child to find," Booth said in way of a dismissal.

"Doctor Brennan won't blame you, Booth. You should stop blaming yourself," Sweets said before leaving.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Booth was still in his office the next morning. So far there was no sign of Addison or Aaron. Either he hadn't tried to leave the DC yet or he had left before the blocks were set up. Either way, Booth was getting frustrated. He wanted this over.

Booth soon heard a knock on his door. "Come in."

The door opened and Max stepped through. "Hey, Booth."

"Max, how's Bones?" Booth asked. He hadn't spoken to her since he dropped her off at the lab the day before. She'd called him, but he hadn't answered. There wasn't anything he was willing to tell her right now, so answering had no purpose but to let her down again.

Max sighed. "She didn't get much sleep last night. She spent most of her time with Christine. She's really stressed. How are things going here?"

"They're not. I've got road blocks and flight delays everywhere, but so far nothing," Booth said.

"This bastard is smart. He was smart enough to make sure no one could connect those two boys. He's gotta know by now that you're onto him. He's not gonna try to get out now. He's gonna wait you out," Max said confidently. It was what he would do if he was in Addison's position.

"Either way that leaves me with nothing! Not to mention that if he gets frustrated with waiting, he could hurt Aaron. Sweets says he's a control freak. We're certainly limiting his control right now," Booth said.

"You're right. He may get antsy. Which means he might ask for help trying to get out. There are a lot of people willing to set that up. It just so happens that I know a lot of them," Max said.

"Max, that is a long shot," Booth said. It was actually more than a long shot. It was like a shot in a hundred.

"It's better than playing the way we are. Look, I know how guys like this think, Booth. He will either wait it out or he will try to find someone to get him out. All I have to do is make sure the person he finds is more loyal to me than him," Max said.

"And you think you can make that happen?" Booth asked.

"For the right price," Max said.

Booth sighed. It was highly unlikely that this would work, but what other choice did they have? Nothing else was working. This was their only chance. "Do what you have to do?"


	11. Chapter 11

Max Keenan considered himself to be a semi-patient man. He had after all waited decades to see his children again. It was the hardest thing he'd ever done, but it was necessary for their safety. However, right now, his patience was gone. The man who had stolen his grandson was working his last nerve.

Max's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his cellphone ringing. He immediately took it out of his pocket and answered it. "Yeah."

_"Hey, Max, it's Ron."_

"Ron, if you're calling, you'd better have something," Max said.

_"I sure do. I got a call from a guy looking out of DC. He mentioned traveling with a teenaged boy," _Ron said.

Max sighed in relief. guy was Addison, almost had to be, that meant that his grandson alive. "What did you tell him?

_"Told him I had a guy perfect for the job. I told him all about how you eluded the police for years."_

Max fumbled around on his coffee table for a pen and paper. "Give me the address."

As soon as Ron gave him the address, Max hung up the phone and went over to his desk. He quickly opened the top drawer and pulled out a nine millimeter handgun. He checked to make sure it was it was loaded and stuck it in his belt.

Just then, Max heard his phone ring again. He took it out and saw that it was Booth. He immediately hit ignore. He couldn't bring Booth into this any further. It wasn't that he didn't trust him. There was no one in the world he trusted with his daughter and grandchildren than Seeley Booth. But Booth was a cop. A guy Addison would see him coming a mile away.

Max grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. It was time to end this. One way or another, by the end of the day, his daughter would have her son back.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Max pulled up to a small house and got out of the car. He went up to the door and knocked.

The door was soon opened by a young boy.

Max was mesmerized by the child in front of him. He looked just Tempe. He had her hair color and a her facial features. This was without a doubt her boy. "Uh, hi. You must be Thomas."

"Who the hell are you?" Thomas asked.

Before Max could answer a man with light brown hair snuck behind Thomas and dragged him away from the door by the back of the shirt. "What did I tell you about staying away from the door?"

Max's hand unconsciously went to the side where his gun was. It took everything he had not to take the gun out and shoot this bastard.

Addison came came back to the door a second later. "Who the hell are you?"

Max forced a smile on his face. It wasn't that difficult. All he had to do was think of all the things he was going to do to this man. "We'll, I'd rather not say out in the open like this, but suffice it to say you requested my services."

"Mr. Keenan? I thought it would take longer," Addison said.

"Well, the sooner the better," Max said before making his way into the house. "Close that door. I going to assume you're the reason for the road blocks all around town. You can bet they have your face plastered everywhere."

Addison closed the door. "Can you get passed the road blocks?"

"For a price. A very high price. You've got the FBI after your head. Helping you comes at great risk," Max said.

"How much?"

"A hundred grand," Max said.

"Alright, I can get you that, but not until after we get away from here. As you said, my face is plastered everywhere," Addison said.

"Fine, but don't think you can screw me over. I will hunt you down. I am just good at finding people as I am at making them disappear," Max warned.

"What's the plan?" Addison asked.

Max looked over at Thomas. "First we get your kid to the car. I won't discuss this further with him here."

Addison turned to Thomas. "You heard him, boy. Get out of here!"

"My car's unlocked. Feel free to get in," Max said.

Thomas got his jacket from the rack by the door and walked out.

"So what's the plan?" Addison asked again.

Max didn't answer. He walked to the window and watched as Thomas got into his car. He wanted to make sure the kid was a safe distance away before this continued.

"Well, are you going to answer me?" Addison asked impatiently.

"You wanna know the plan?" Max asked in a deadly quiet voice. He then turned in a swift motion and punched Addison in the face.

Addison fall to the ground. Before he had the chance to get back up, Max pulled him up and started punching him repeatedly in the stomach.

Addison yelled out in pain. "What are you doing?!"

"Getting justice for my daughter and grandson!" Max yelled before punching in the face again. He then pulled him up by the shirt and forced him to look at him. "Temperance Brennan is my daughter, which makes that boy my grandson!"

Max continued his physical attack on the piece of crap in front of him. "How does it feel? How does it feel to have someone beat you and be unable to stop it? You think this is how your son felt when you were beating him to death?"

Max hit him a get more times in the face and then let him fall to the ground in a heap. Addison was still conscious, but just barely.

Max took out his gun and leveled at the bastard. When it came time to pull the trigger though, he couldn't do it. Oh, it wasn't a morality issue. He had no problem killing this man. But if someone had stolen his child and someone had deprived him of the chance to confront him, he'd be pissed. He wouldn't take that opportunity from Tempe.

Max knelt down in front of Addison. "You know, I had every intention of killing you here. I don't let people who hurt my family continue to live. But my daughter deserves the chance to do it herself. When she's done with you, you just may wish I'd killed you." With that, he hit Addison in the face with the gun, knocking him unconscious.


	12. Chapter 12

Booth was in his office on his phone trying to get ahold of Max for like the billionth time. He was getting very nervous. It was never good when Max went off the grid.

Booth slammed the phone down after getting voicemail once more. "Damn it, Max, where the hell are you?!"

"Why are you looking for my dad?"

Booth jumped at the sound of his girlfriend's voice. "God, Bones, don't do that!"

Brennan walked inside and closed the door behind her. "You did not come home last night and you haven't answered any of my calls."

"I...I've been busy working the case and I didn't want to call you with nothing," Booth said. Okay, so he didn't exactly have nothing, but he wasn't ready to tell Bones what he did have.

"If you have nothing, why did you set up road blocks?" Brennan asked. She'd turned on the news right after putting Christine down for her morning nap. She'd wanted to come see Booth right away, but she'd had no one to watch Christine. Finally, after Angela got off of work, she'd agreed to watch her.

Booth sighed. He'd really been hoping Bones wouldn't find out about that before he could make sure Aaron was safe. He didn't want to make this any worse than it was.

"Booth, tell me. I have a right to know," Brennan said. This was her son they were talking about. She had a right to know what was going on with his case.

Booth sighed again. He was going to have to tell her now. "I don't know where Aaron is yet, but I know who he is?"

"What do you mean?" Brennan asked in confusion.

Before Booth could answer, there was a knock on the door. The solo soon opened, revealing a young agent with dark hair. "Agent Booth, we've got a lead."

Booth immediately stood up. "What is it?"

"We got an anonymous tip on Addison's location."

"Get a team together. We leave now," Booth said.

Booth, I'm coming with you," Brennan said. Her son might be at that location. She was going to get him.

Booth's instinct was to argue, but then he remembered that he'd sent Bones away from her son once before. He wouldn't do that again. "Okay, let's go."

just as they were about to leave, Brennan's phone rang. She thought about ignoring it, but she realized it could be Angela about Christine, so she took it our and answered it. "Brennan."

_"Hey, honey, it's me?"_

"Dad, I can't right now. Booth and I are going to follow a lead," Brennan said.

"That's your dad? Let me talk to him," Booth said.

_"No, honey, you need to go home. I'm on my way there now," _Max said on the other end of the line.

"I can't. We May have found my son. I have to go," Brennan said. She wasn't sure why her father was pushing this, but it didn't matter. She had to go get her son.

_"Please, sweetheart, just trust me. Go home. It'll be worth it," _Max said before hanging up.

"What did he say?" Booth asked.

"He doesn't want us to follow the lead. He wants us to go home," Brennan said.

"Then we're going home," Booth said. If Max wanted them to go home, he obviously knew something they didn't. It occurred to Booth now that Max probably called in the anonymous tip. He also hoped that meant Max had Aaron with him, but either way they had to follow his lead this time.

"But..."

"Bones, your father knows how desperate you are to get your son back. If he wants us to go home knowing we had a lead, he must have a good reason," Booth said."

"But what about the lead?" Brennan asked. She agreed that her father wouldn't do this without a good reason, but she still worried about possibly missing the opportunity to get her son back.

"I'm still sending the team. We can go back after seeing Max if we have to," Booth said.

Brennan sighed. She didn't like it, but she didn't see much choice. "Okay."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Thomas was ashamed to admit, but the man currently with him intimidated him. The guy was supposes to be getting him and his father away, but instead, he'd gotten in the car alone and started driving without a word. The only time he'd spoken at all was when he'd used the phone."

Thomas had no idea what happened to his father. He was too afraid to ask. He hated that fact too. Fear was a weakness he tried to never show. He was tough. He was the one people feared. Everyone in school knew that too. They all avoided him because they feared him.

Thomas forced himself to calm down. He didn't give into fear with anyone who wasn't his father. Not even that cop yesterday made him show fear. He wasn't going to let this dude do it. "Who are you?"

"My name's Max," he said.

"Where are you taking me?" Thomas asked.

Max smiled at the boy through the rearview mirror. "It's okay, kid. You're safe now. You don't have to be afraid of me or anyone else."

"I'm not afraid of you," Thomas lied.

"Good. I don't want you to be afraid of me," Max said. There were lots of people he wanted to fear him, but his grandson was not one of them. Unfortunately, he knew Thomas was afraid of him. He might put up a good front, but the boy was terrified.

"What did you do to my dad? Did you kill him?" Thomas asked. He wasn't sure how he'd feel if this Max dude had killed his father? Would he even care? He wasn't sure?

"No, son, I didn't kill him. Wanted to, but I didn't," Max said as he turned onto his daughter's street.

Thomas watched as they drove down the street. They went about halfway down before pulling into a driveway.

Thomas noticed another car in the driveway. It appeared to have gotten there just seconds before them because the owners of it were still inside.

The door opened on the driver's side of the other car and much to Thomas' surprise, the cop from school got out. "You brought me to the cops?"

"Not exactly?" Max said.

Thomas watched as a second person got out of the car. He gasped the second he saw her. It had been a very long time since he'd seen her, but he never let himself forget. It was his mother.


End file.
